Once upon a time, there was a boy named Luke who lived with his mother in a small cottage. They were very poor. His mother earned a little money by spinning wool, but Luke was very lazy and did nothing to help. Eventually, his mother told him that she would throw him out if he didn’t start working for his food.
Luke didn’t want to be thrown out, so he found a one-day job on a farm. The farmer paid him with a bottle of milk for his work. Luke put the bottle in his jacket pocket, but by the time he got home, he had spilled all the milk.
“You stupid boy!” his mother shouted. “You should have carried it on your head!”
“I’ll do that next time,” Luke replied.
The next day, Luke got a job at a bakery, where the baker gave him a big cat as payment. Luke placed the cat on his head, but it scratched him so much that he had to let it go.
“You stupid boy!” his mother yelled. “You should have tied a string around it and pulled it behind you!”
“I’ll do that next time,” Luke said.
The following day, Luke worked for a butcher, who paid him with a large leg of lamb. Luke tied a string around the meat and dragged it behind him. By the time he got home, the meat was completely ruined.
“You stupid boy!” his mother raged. “You should have carried it on your shoulder!”
“I’ll do that next time,” Luke replied.
Luke’s next job was at a farm, where he was given a donkey as his payment. Luke was a strong boy, but he still struggled to lift the donkey onto his shoulders. Eventually, he succeeded and started to stagger home.
Now, it so happened that a rich man lived in a house along the road home. He had a beautiful daughter, but she had never spoken a word. The doctors said that she would only speak when someone made her laugh. Her father had promised that whoever made her laugh would marry her.
The girl happened to be looking out of the window just as Luke walked past the house. The sight of a donkey hanging upside down on his shoulders was so funny and bizarre that she burst out laughing and immediately found her voice again. Her father was overjoyed and asked Luke if he would marry his daughter.
Luke and his mother were never poor again. They lived in a big house for the rest of their days, together with Luke’s wife and her father.
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